The Washington Redskins have cut their roster to 53 players, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not going to keep making roster moves.
NFL cut day has come and passed. The Washington Redskins parted ways with 37 players on their 90-man roster as the league saw over a thousand players hit the free agent market. It’s a really tough day for a lot of players across the league, but even with all of that activity, roster moves still aren’t done.
Teams will continue to be making moves over the course of the next few days. Because of the nature of certain Injured Reserve rules, certain players had to make the 53-man roster before being put on the IR while staying eligible for the designated-for-return tag. So, in the coming days, a number of players will be put on short-term IR and that will open up some roster spots.
The Redskins are one of the teams that is likely to open up a couple of roster spots. They decided to keep Shaun Wilson and Jordan Brailford on their initial 53-man roster in order to get both on the IR while giving them the potential option to return. But soon, both will be on IR and there will be two spots open.
The Redskins could sign a couple of players that were among their cuts to fill the spots. And what they could do is initially sign those players to practice squad spots before promoting them to the active roster and then filling their practice squad spots. But, it also remains possible that the team could elect to target some outside help. Here’s a look at five players that were among the NFL’s final cuts that could find a home with the Redskins if they want to add them.
5. EDGE Jachai Polite
What if I told you there was a time that Jachai Polite was viewed as a first-round prospect. And not only was he a first-round talent, he had been mocked to the Redskins by a handful of analysts.
Yes, Polite was considered to be a potential high-quality pass rusher at the NFL level. In a class of very good pass rushers, Polite could’ve been a top-20 pick. However, a miserable performance at the NFL Combine and some off-the-field concerns caused him to fall. And as a result, he was selected in the third round by the New York Jets.
It seemed that the Jets were getting a solid value by selecting Polite at that juncture. However, Polite was released by the team during final roster cuts. That is very rare for a third-round pick to be cut before his first season. Usually, a fourth-round selection will be among the highest drafted players that get cut.
Washington Commanders
It’s unclear exactly why the Jets parted with Polite. But one explanation is that he was selected by the previous general manager, Mike Maccagnan. Joe Douglas took over the Jets after the draft and evidently, he wasn’t as impressed by Polite’s skill set as the Maccagnan regime was.
Polite does come with some baggage, but the Redskins could use some extra depth on the edge. He has the talent needed to be a potent pass rusher and if he can develop along with Montez Sweat, the Redskins would have a couple of really good young pass rushers to serve as building blocks for their defense.
For that reason, Redskins should consider claiming Polite to give him a chance to develop as a fifth edge rusher. The only thing that could scare the ‘Skins off is the character concerns.
If Polite’s issues scare off the Redskins, perhaps they could consider a guy like Shane Ray instead.
4. RB Elijah McGuire
Two Jets to kick off this list? Sure. Why not?
The Redskins kept Byron Marshall on their roster to serve as the fourth running back. He is a Jay Gruden favorite and a backup receiving option for the team. That said, he isn’t very good and has massive issues staying healthy during his career. So, trusting him could prove to be a mistake.
There are a lot of backup receiving backs that could challenge Marshall for a role. And Elijah McGuire is one of them. McGuire is similarly sized to Marshall and has proven to be a quality receiving option for the Jets over the course of the past couple of seasons, averaging10.3 yards per catch on 36 career receptions. Conversely, Marshall has only caught 13 passes with a career average of 5.8 yards per catch.
McGuire was only cut by the Jets amid a logjam of talent at the running back position. They added Le’Veon Bell this offseason and have Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery as backup receivers. The Jets elected to keep 2018 sixth-round pick Trent Cannon over McGuire to round out their running back room.
McGuire is still just 25 and has plenty of upside. After all, he did miss half of last season dealing with a foot injury, but he still proved capable of functioning well as a receiver. If the Redskins sour on Marshall or aren’t particularly happy with their running back depth, bringing in McGuire would make sense, whether that’s for the active roster or for the practice squad.
3. LB Malcolm Smith
The Redskins are young and thin at the linebacker position. Aside from Jon Bostic, all of their players have been in the league for three or fewer seasons. And two of them, Bostic and rookie Cole Holcomb, haven’t played with the Redskins previously.
That said, it could make sense for Washington to add a veteran just to provide some extra depth at linebacker. And Malcolm Smith is available.
Smith, the former Super Bowl 48 MVP, was released by the San Francisco 49ers prior to the roster cut deadline. Smith, 30, played in 12 games for the team last season and totaled 35 tackles while mostly serving as a backup.
More from Riggo's Rag
- What will Emmanuel Forbes bring to the Washington Commanders?
- Highlighting the best Commanders 2023 NFL Draft betting props
- 3 late Commanders rumors drawing buzz ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft
- 4 bold predictions for the Commanders 2023 NFL Draft
- Commanders News: Chase Young trade, draft day, CB riser and Sam Howell
Smith’s tenure with the 49ers was marred by bad health, as he only played 12 of 32 possible games. That said, he’s still just a couple of seasons removed from a 103 tackle campaign with the Oakland Raiders. He always had good speed, so perhaps if he’s healthy, he could make an impact in a bit role.
The Redskins don’t necessarily need Smith. But, he could provide depth to the team as a fifth inside linebacker and could emerge as a spot starter if any of their young talent struggles out of the gate. Either way, he would provide depth at a solid-but-thin-looking position, so that could help the squad.
If the Redskins are looking more for a developmental depth candidate, 2018 third-round pick Malik Jefferson was released by the Cincinnati Bengals. He has intriguing athletic traits, so perhaps he would be a better fit to develop with the team’s young linebacker corps. But that also might be counterproductive to the development of some of their young pieces, so they may be better off targeting a veteran or putting a guy like BJ Blunt on the practice squad.
2. OT Dan Skipper
Currently, the Washington Redskins only have three tackles on their roster. They are Donald Penn, Morgan Moses, and Geron Christian. While the team could’ve kept Timon Parris as well, they elected to go heavy on the interior line and may try to stash Parris on the practice squad.
That said, the ‘Skins still need tackle help. Christian is far from a proven option, yet he finds himself as the team’s swing tackle this year. The team needs to try to add some help in some way, shape or form, and on a thin tackle market, Dan Skipper stands out.
Skipper isn’t a household name and he is somewhat of an NFL journeyman. He was cut by the New England Patriots and has had stints with the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and Denver Broncos. But, he’s still just 24 years old. And this preseason, he did fairly well.
More from Commanders News
- What will Emmanuel Forbes bring to the Washington Commanders?
- Highlighting the best Commanders 2023 NFL Draft betting props
- 3 late Commanders rumors drawing buzz ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft
- 4 bold predictions for the Commanders 2023 NFL Draft
- Commanders News: Chase Young trade, draft day, CB riser and Sam Howell
Skipper was solid during Patriots camp while filling in for Isaiah Wynn. He performed well at the beginning of the preseason before tapering off a bit as the games continued. That said, the 6-foot-10 tackle showed more than enough to stick on an NFL roster, and it was somewhat surprising that the Patriots didn’t keep him and opted instead to trade for a couple of other players to be backup tackles.
With Washington, Skipper could be claimed and kept as a fourth tackle on the roster. Bill Callahan could work with him and potentially continue the growth that he saw this preseason. And given that the Pats may want to keep Skipper on their practice squad, it would be smart to poach him to try to help with Washington’s poor offensive line depth.
1. OL Stefen Wisniewski
This would probably be the smartest move that the Redskins could make. Wisniewski was cut by the rival Philadelphia Eagles as they look to go younger on the offensive line. But Wisniewski can still play and has long been a top backup interior lineman for the Eagles. And with the Redskins, he could reprise that role.
The Redskins kept three backups on the interior in rookie Day 3 draft picks, Wes Martin and Ross Pierschbacher, and veteran center Tony Bergstrom. However, Bergstrom is 33 and didn’t perform well at all in the preseason. He was only a decent-at-best backup for the team anyway, so keeping him didn’t make much sense.
Wisniewski would be an ideal replacement for Bergstrom. He can play both center and guard and has done it at a higher level than Bergstrom. That’s one of the reasons that Wisniewski was able to hold a starting job during his time in Oakland while Bergstrom wasn’t able to get on the field (they were teammates from 2012-2014).
At this point, Wisniewski is young and better than Bergstrom. The only thing that Bergstrom has is experience in the system. The Redskins should explore getting Wisniewski to improve their backup interior line and maybe learn some tips about their Week 1 opponent.
It also doesn’t hurt that Wisniewski was a member of the Eagles, a Redskins divisional rival, so poaching him and learning a few of their secrets could really help their cause.